Door

Purchased a home built in 1934

I have purchased a home built in 1934, typically called American Square. We would like to transform the exterior to reflect a Tudor style in keeping with the rest of the neighbourhood. We are doing a complete renovation and all of the windows and doors (interior and exterior) will be replaced. The front porch will also be reduced in size and the front facade changed. Attached are pictures of existing home, and I have the plans for the interior/exterior renovation in a PDF file which I can also provide. We would like the front exterior to Tudor style The back exterior and inside will be modern/contemporary. What do you suggest for window and door styles and colours?

Answer:

If you wanted to create the look of tudor style home, I suggest that you go with dark brown windows and a dark brown door to help create the contrast look that you see on a tudor home. I would go with a simple style door, without decorative glass. For the windows, I would not include any grids or you will change the look of the home.

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At a loss for picking a colour for the doors

We will be installing new windows and doors (including garage door). I’m at a loss for picking a colour for the doors – including garage door. The vinyl siding is, I believe, Gentek Maize. The roof is green. The brick is “red”. Soffits are white as are the gutters and downspouts. Can you help?

Answer:

If you wanted to go with a colour for your windows, I would suggest you go with a neutral tone like Gentek’s Almond or Wicker. Either of these colours will look good with the Maize siding as well as the red brick. I would also suggest that you change the shutters to match the window colour. As for the front door, I would suggest something darker like Gentek’s Pebble or Dark Drift to make it a focal point. For the garage door, I would stick with a dark colour like you have now, so it does not stand

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Bungalow needs a new roof and a facelift

Please help! My new late 1960’s raised bungalow needs a new roof and a facelift. i crave a modern look. The windows are newer, so I’m not wanting to replace them.I’m prepared to redo the siding and paint the brick. I will be replacing front doors and garage door. should I erect a portico over front doors? The 2 windows and brick below the white siding will be closed up. Should I put stone there? Any suggestions and tips would be greatly appreciated.

Answer:

If you want to create a modern look I would do the following. Leave the red brick, replace the white siding with a dark siding colour like Gentek’s Windswept Smoke or Pebble. These are neutral tones that look great with the red brick. As for the part you are going to be closing up, go with a stone in this area with colour similar to the siding colour you pick. Brown and Grey tones. This will bring everything together.

As for the portico, I would not go that route. That would close up the door. Pick a bold door colour like Black or Dark Grey and make it a focal point for the home. Paint or replace the garage door the same colour as the siding. You do not want the eye to be drawn to the garage door so make it blend in to the home.

Replacing all windows and eventually gutters, soffits, eaves, downspouts etc to match

We are replacing all windows and eventually gutters, soffits, eaves, downspouts etc to match. The garage doors and front door will also be changed. The large windows will be changed in design, as I have attempted to show through a design app (3rd photo). I also made the windows dark through the app, which I like, but not sure if it will be too much once I change all of the vinyl. Unfortunately the app I used doesn’t give me Gentek colour options which I need to choose from. If I go dark, should I also stick with a dark front door and garage doors? I’m considering either Pebble or Dark Drift for the windows. Brownstone beige seems to be the same colour of our main brick colour; Dark Drift is the same colour as the darker accent brick. My husband actually purchased paint in brownstone, pebble and dark drift. He painted some back windows but we still can’t decide. We would love to stay towards a grey tone, however not sure if it would look “off” considering the brick is more of a sandy tone. Roof is timberline brand “Canadian driftwood” in colour, if that helps. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Answer:

With the colour tones in your home, I would stick with the brown tones for your windows. It is a tough choice between Pebble and Dark Drift, but if you are going to go darker with the vinyl, I would go with Pebble, the lighter colour to bring everything together. I would then go with a darker garage and front door.

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Color and style for the side door of my house.

Need to know the best color and style for the side door of my house. Please note we had it commercial brown (like trim in windows) but because it is exposed to full sun it fades and causes the weatherstripping and seals to crack and warp. Also I am planning to add accent stone to the bottom half of the house if you have any suggestions of color/style that would be appreciated. I already have my quote for the garden doors. It is very secluded where I live and I would like to have clear windows but would like to block out the heat any suggestions here.

Answer

For the side door, you could try a colour like Pebble. It fits in with the brown of the home, but is not too dark and should not fall to the effects of the direct sun. As well, when picking stone, I would pick a version that has both some browns and some greys in it as well lighten the look of the home. As for your windows, if you do not want to tint them just install some window treatments like blinds to help keep out the heat of the sun. If you are buying Energy Star rated windows, like Gentek’s Regency line, you can get glass packages that will help keep the cool/heat in the home and cool/heat from outside, outside the home. Inquire with your installer about the best glass package for your home.

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Would you add an accent colour?

What siding, soffit, facia and eavestrough colours would you recommend for our home?

Would siding, soffit, facia and eavestrough in one colour – canyon clay work with white windows?, if yes, what front door colour would you recommend?

Would you add an accent colour, and if yes, where?

Answer:

For your home, I would recommend that you go with Pebble for the siding and Sable for the Soffit, Fascia and Eavestroughing. Wicker would look okay, but the look would not be much different from your existing look. Pebble is a bit darker and would give a different look. As for the front door, I would go dark like Black or Dark Grey to add in some accent colour.

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Bring this home back to 2016

Hi, Please help with some ideas to bring this home back to 2016! Please ignore the statues and water fountain in front as it is being removed. White vinyl windows and light gray roof was replaced in 2015 so they will be staying. White vinyl siding is perfect condition and it very clean so I am looking for ideas to work with what I have. I am willing to remove/replace the front door, gray fascia, gray shutters. I am thinking of some, a lot or all stone for the front! Along with 2 pillars holding front porch either in stone or custom wood work. Can you please make some suggestions on what will work with the light gray shingles and white siding! Thanks

Dark colours are in right now, especially dark greys. I would replace your soffit, fascia and shutters with Gentek’s Iron Ore colour to start. If you were willing to add some stone work to the front of the home, I would suggest some stone with both light and dark grey tones in it to add some dimension and style to the home. I would put the stone about 1/3 of the way up the first level of the home. I like the idea of the pillars for the front but maybe go with some dark coloured aluminum or wood ones. As for the front door, I would go with something like Black or be bold and go red to make it the focal point of the home.

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Building a house by ourselves

Hello. We are currently building a house by ourselves and are about to start on the exterior siding. We are hesitating between vinyl and engineered wood. Colour will be the major influence on our choice. We are looking at a grey house, a rather dark grey, like Midnight Surf. A “granite” grey, not a light grey. We have an IKO Charcoal Grey roof and white doors and windows. In the front, we will have four white Craftsman-style square columns, on charcoal grey-coloured, almost black, brick bases. The areas where we are finding it difficult to make up our minds are the trim on the doors and windows and the soffit. I would like to repeat the charcoal grey colour of my brick by using it also on my door and window trim, as well as on the ventilated soffit. The rest of the capping would be white. I’m still unsure, as I notice the opposite, black window and white trim, is often done. This is holding me back. What do you suggest? All white or should I take a chance on something else? Thank you for your help.

Answer

My suggestion would be to go with the white windows and grey trim, either Gentek’s Windswept Smoke or Iron Ore. Midnight Surf has a blue undertone to it that I think will look a little off. You could also go with black on your window trim and soffit and go with a dark grey door. I would stick with the white windows so the house does not get too dark.

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Match our pebble trim and garage doors

We are currently in the process of picking a new siding color to match our pebble trim and garage doors. Would deep moss look good and if so what color should we go on the windows and front door? Thanks

Answer:

Moonlit Moss looks great with Pebble accents. I would definitely chose it for the siding. As for the windows, why not try Wicker and Dark brown like Gentek’s Espresso for the door.

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Right choice of Colour

I’m trying to make the right choice of colour for the exterior siding of my home. If possible, I would like to keep Sandalwood on the sides of my garage. The veranda will be covered in a wood colour with black decorative trim.

Answer

There are many options you can go with but my first choice would be to go with Gentek’s Dark Drift colour for the home which blends well with the Sandalwood on the garage and the black door and wood colour. The wood will look nice against the darker siding and make it a focal point which is what you want.